Telangiectasias are highly prevalent skin disorders. Telangiectasias are visible small, red, purple or blue surface blood vessels that can be located on the face, upper chest, neck or other parts of the body. Telangiectatic blood vessels, which can include swollen blood vessels, spider veins, red dermal patches, purple dermal patches, or blue dermal patches are abnormal and are not necessary for any essential body function.
Telangiectatic blood vessels can appear with or without a preceding or concurrent skin or internal disease. Telangiectasias can develop anywhere within the body, but can be most easily seen in the skin. Telangiectasias include essential or primary telangiectasias, which include blood vessel dilations of unknown etiology. Generalized essential telangiectasias (GET) exhibit a widespread distribution pattern over the body. Other primary telangiectases include angioma serpiginosum, ataxia telangiectasia, angiomas and spider naevi. Some other examples of conditions, syndromes, diseases and disorders which can include telangiectasias are CREST Syndrome (acronym for Calcinosis, Raynaud's phenomenon, Esophageal dysfunction, Sclerodactyly, and Telangiextasis), hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (Osler-Weber-Rendu Syndrome), Ataxia-telangiectasia, rosacea (also known as acne rosacea), basal cell carcinoma, scleroderma, unilateral nevoid telangiectasia, Cutis marmorata telangiectatica congenita, and hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.
A telangiectasia can be a symptom of rosacea, However, rosacea also encompasses erythema, and is, accordingly, a phenomenon distinct from a telangiectasia.
Current treatments for ameliorating telangiectasias include laser therapy and electro-optical synergy (ELOS), which combines intense pulsed optical energy and conducted bipolar radiofrequency (RF) energy into a single pulse (Sadick, NS et al., J. Drugs Dermatolog. 4: 181-186, 2005).